| People Against a Casino
Town
|
| News
from PACT |
|
Is
it worth it, Oregon? Is it worth it?
Video interview with family
vicitimized by Oregon's predatory casinos
In August, 2008, PACT interviewed a family
that was being victimized by
Oregon's predatory casinos.
A cut from the full interview can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/pactwebkeeper One subject not discussed during the interview: although seldom discussed, employers recognize that any employee plagued by an addiction is an easy target for extortion - in all its unsavory forms - extortion which could ultimately harm the employer and their business. Oregon Coast - August 22, 2008 Interviewer: People Against a Casino Town, Oregon Michael and his wife wanted to raise their little family in the peace and security of the bucolic Oregon coast. The family lived frugally so she could obtain her professional license. Between the two of them, the family earned between $75,000 and $200,000 a year. They bought a small farm out of town and settled down. With one small child and another on the way, they were able to save up about $70,000 for the children’s education, and still live comfortably. There are three casinos on the Oregon coast, one located about 10 miles from the family’s home. At first, Michael and his wife occasionally went to the casino. Then it slowly became obvious that she was becoming what Michael calls ‘obsessed’ with the slot machines. Even though she was pregnant with their second son at the time, she would spend all night at the casino, and spend every penny she could beg or borrow from family and friends. She’d get home just before dawn, take a short nap, and then go to work in a nearby town. Work all day, then go back to the casino for another all-night round of gambling on the slots, so long as the money lasted. Since 1995, Michael’s wife has lost over half a million dollars at the casino. She gambled away all their children’s savings. She alienated their friends by constantly borrowing money she could not repay. Whatever was left of her paycheck after paying off the ‘payday loans’ was poured back into the casino slot machines. After Oregon enacted a law which pretty much ended the local payday loan businesses, she resorted to on-line payday loans over the Internet - which charge interest between 800% and 1,000%. If she doesn’t pay the loans on time, they’ll garnish her wages, which would jeopardize her job. Their second child was diagnosed as autistic at age three. Michael realizes that if his wife loses her job, the children will be without health insurance, so he keeps bailing her out of each new debt crisis. Michael is stuck supporting a gambling addict. Michael tried as best he could to hold the family together, but eventually, he couldn’t bear to see the pain the situation was bringing to their children. The family separated. His wife visits the children, but each time she arrives on the doorstep, Michael knows she needs money. He is retired, and as primary parent for an autistic toddler, he can’t go back to work. He and the children live on his modest retirement income. The family 'earns' too much money to qualify for any government assistance with medical expenses for the children. Michael has a hard time explaining to his older son why a family with an annual income approaching the top 5% in the nation has to live as they do, on the very edge of poverty - why they live in a small, spartan home, why he can’t buy his teen the clothes he wants, why he can’t afford the special training his autistic son so desperately needs. And Michael is afraid. “I’m an old man. And I have two children. If something happens to me, she is going to have to take care of those children. Those children are all that matters to me. If I just let her fall apart, I don’t know what the outcome would be. Now, everything’s consumed.” When asked if the problem was gambling in general, or the proximity of the casino, Michael responded, “It’s the casino. It’s the casino. It used to be, if people wanted to gamble, they took an excursion, like to Disneyland or to Las Vegas, lost their money and came home - had a good time. This is in your back yard every day. When I went to the bankruptcy lawyer, he said people come in on Social Security, old people on Social Security, and they have to get food handouts in town because they lose all their money and they drive themselves totally into debt with the casino.” “The casino is where the action is. Credence Clearwater. When’s Credence Clearwater ever come to small towns? They don’t. The casino has the money. They just put in a $40 million expansion. Where do you think they’re going to get that money? They’re going to suck it out of the people. They’re going wring it out of them because they have no heart. The only thing they have is profit motive.” His final words about Oregon Governor Kulongoski’s decision to allow casinos, “Is it worth it, Oregon? Is it worth it?” Editor's Note: In October 2008, we learned that Michael's wife had lost her job. Contact Oregon's gambling commissioners: Contact Oregon's Gambling Commission Members: Steven Ungar steve.ungar@state.or.us Bill Ihle bill.ihle@state.or.us Pamela Fogg pamela.fogg@state.or.us Amy Lowery amy.lowery@state.or.us LeRon Howland leron.howland@state.or.us |
|
Related Links: |
| PACT SEARCH FACTS LAWSUIT LINKS NEWS RESEARCH ACTION |